Kindergarten suspension-worthy behavior

Nope.

I taught k. The most was 23 or 24. No aide.

In my mind, a loud and disruptive argument amongst 5 y/o kids wouldn't warrant a suspension. It would warrant teacher intervention right away. The opportunity for the kids to calm down. A talking to the kids involved privately to find out what happened, etc. A discussion with the entire class discussing -- in general terms -- the problem, and strategies for dealing with said problem should it arise in the future.

As a teacher, I'd know my kids so if this was uncharacteristic, I'd talk to the parents about it. Not as a punitive thing, but to inform and get more info.

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The least terrible behavior to warrant a suspension? I would guess if there's a policy in place, that would guide your answer but to me, there are dif. factors to consider so I'd take it on a case-by-case basis, depending on the student, parents, other issues. . .

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My experience, I'm not aware of a parent-initiated suspension. I guess if a parent thought there was a problem or wanted to punish their kid, they could keep the kid home for x no. of days. . .

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Again, my experience, in Kindergarten the teacher was responsible for the safety of her students so this was addressed often, in terms of problem-solving strategies, cooling off time, letting kids blow off steam, recognizing they need to move, can't sit for long periods. I can't recall any kid physically assaulting another kid in my classroom. Saying hurtful stuff, maybe. But not attacking. Maybe I was really lucky and I know my experience doesn't mirror every teacher's experience, not by a long shot.

Not sure if this was helpful or not. . . *sigh*

Tazlima said:

Would this be considered bad enough for the instigators to be suspended for a few days?

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No. Kindergarteners often have adjustment issues when they first start school. Temper tantrums aren't unheard of at age 5, and would have to be pretty bad over a long period of time before something was done.

Tazlima said:

If not, what's the least terrible behavior that could result in suspension?

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In my daughter's class, there was a troubled little girl who choked several classmates around the neck, stole school lunches, and finally used a teacher's scissor to cut off a few inches of my daughter's waist-length hair. We were livid after getting nowhere with the teacher. We went and spoke with the principal, and threatened to go to the school board if nothing was done. The principal then called the girl's father to come and get the child for the rest of the day, and then moved her to a different class for the last few days of the school term. It was no suspension, but fairly close for kindergarten.

Tazlima said:

Is there such a thing as a parent-initiated suspension, where at school's recommendation, the parent keeps the kid home for a few days to cool off, even if it's not technically a suspension?

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A parent could keep the child home for a day or two in order to take her to a doctor or psychologist before bringing her back to school. The child could also pretend to be ill in order to stay home, if the parent indulged her.

Tazlima said:

Also, I know in my high school days a student who was attacked and fought back would be punished equally with the attacker. Does this apply to small children too, or does the school take into account who started it?

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With the bullying incident I mentioned above, the teacher initially viewed it as the problem of both students. This only changed as the behavior escalated, and the bully moved on to more targets.

Most schools nowadays have a "zero tolerance" policy, so if a child made a threat that was serious enough, or tried to use something (even a pencil or scissors) as a weapon, that could warrant a suspension. Also, if there's a policy against certain curse words or racial slurs (esp. if directed towards a teacher), that could result in a suspension, though many schools nowadays try to implement "in-school" suspensions so the kids don't view it just as a free day off.

I would imagine a zero tolerance policy of some kind would be a way to get suspension without there being physical violence--bringing a toy gun to school, for example (Nerf guns or water guns will do). A couple kids from my schools growing up got suspended for bringing toy weapons.

You could also have a situation where a child threatens another, without necessarily getting physical, and frightens the other student so badly that he or she doesn't want to come back to school. (This is a scenario from my junior high, but I suppose it could be applied to kindergarten? I dunno...)

A lot, I think, would depend on school policy, so you may want to look into what sort of bullying or zero tolerance policies exist in the counties of Virginia that your story might take place--what is considered bullying or what is considered absolutely forbidden on school grounds, what punishments there are, etc.

My daughter starts kindergarten in three days. I was talking to my neighbor last night and she mentioned her son got suspended from kindergarten, put in a squad car, and sent to the police station for a "chat." His crime? Stealing a toy from the class prize box. Which was actually just a clear bowl, placed directly in front of his desk. But since he stole a plastic top, he was suspended for a day (his dad had to come sit with him on school property for the entire day but he wasn't allowed to do anything, including read). And since it was a "theft," the police got involved.

They changed school districts shortly afterward. The boy is now 9 and was diagnosed with ADD a few years ago - he's doing much better now!

If you want a suspension, zero tolerance is your friend...
At the kindergarten age, it's very unlikely that a kid will be suspended for getting in a fight or throwing a tantrum, unless *maybe* he hurts someone else pretty badly. But under zero tolerance policies, I've heard of kids being suspended for bringing Daddy's gun to show-and-tell, or even just pointing their finger like a gun and saying "bang bang" (even if it's part of a game on the playground). I even seem to recall a kid getting suspended for biting a Pop-Tart into the shape of a gun and pointing it at another kid.

In my school district...

Coming to school repeatedly smelling foul, of animals, or strong body odor. No kidding, this can result in a suspension until the child comes in clean. I taught in small, middle-class town and this did happen upon occasion.

For this to happen, the odor has to be so strong it makes those around him or her physically ill. I had a student once (in Grade 7) who would not bathe or keep clean. He had dogs at home, too, which slept with him and had mange, so we would smell: smelly boy, smelly dogs, and mange medicine, altogether. When the mother finally came in she was livid and outraged - and smelled worse than her son.

I also had a little girl who smelled strongly of mildew. People would say, what is it? What is that smell? (Most having never smelled very strong mildew.) I knew what it was as my grandmother had a lot of old books in her cellar, which I helped throw out as a child. This odor didn't assault you right away, but if you sat next to her, it would slowly, slowly overcome you. A girl I assigned to be her lab partner once threw up because of the odor. Again, when the parents came in, they smelled just like her, but they weren't upset. They thanked us and made sure the girl showered each day before school. Where the original mildew odor came from, in her case, I am not sure.

So consider a smelly option.

Hundreds of kindergarden students suspended from school.

Distracting mohawk.

Kindergartener interrogated over cap gun until he pees his pants, then suspended 10 days.

'Terrorist' 5-year-old girl suspended for bubble gun 'threat'

Google Suspended Kindergarden and you'll get an eyeful.

Tazlima said:

Thanks for the info everyone, although I have to say I'm kind of disappointed. A suspension would have been really convenient as a plot device. Unfortunately it sounds like there's no way the kid would be suspended for the scene I've written. I'll just have to find some other way to move the story forward.

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Maybe you could still have the big fight, and then the teacher could find a cap gun or a squirt gun or a bubble gun in one of the kid's cubby holes?

My son was suspended in Kindergarten when he threw a pencil and it hit a little girl in the eye.

Another vote for zero tolerance here. Schools are paranoid of lawsuits, media exposure and other issues so they really over react on many things. A kid with a plastic knife from her lunch got suspended because they thought she threatened others. Two kindergartners here had a finger pistol fight (thumb and forefinger out and shout 'BANG'...) and got a three day suspension.

When I was a kid we played Cops and Robbers or Cowboys and Indians with cap guns and rubber tipped arrows. Very few of us lost eyes. None of us grew up and tortured cats or blew up nuclear plants or fired at the White House. Some of us are almost respectable, but it's our wives fault for that.

Jeff

Maybe the arguement wasn't the first time the kid had disrupted the class? My brother was so hyper and disruptive in kindy that my mum was asked not to bring him back again. In pre-primary and onwards, if he was having a really hyper day, he wasn't officially suspended, but my mum was asked to keep him home for a few days until he'd settled down. If the class is large and the teacher is stressed, maybe she would need a break from the kid if he was constantly acting out.

Language could do it, too. In the district I went to school in, using curse words (one in particular) was enough to warrant immediate suspension.

I'm not sure which age range this book is for, so obviously this wouldn't work if it was a middle-grade book or something, but if they're arguing and yelling and the five year old starts throwing out curse words, it could definitely warrant suspension.

I've also met kids like this. I've worked with some who would call us bitch, etc., when they didn't get their way. All of those kids had some kind of issues going on at home, hence the behavior. In my opinion, suspension isn't the best way to deal with something like that because it's such a marker of some kind of serious problems.

If you have a troubled kid and you aren't writing for children, throw a few choice words into the fight and the kid could easily be suspended.

A friend of mine has a child with autism. Mild, but it's there. Last year was kindergarten for the boy and he frequently acted out, hit, pushed, spit, got angry, made threats. I don't think they even came close to suspending him, but tried to work it out with him the best they could and it was in kindergarten that the diagnosis of autism was confirmed. Perhaps that has something to do with them not suspending?

Some schools are going to be more hands-on in trying to work it out with a child, I imagine, and others not so much. So many dynamics including teacher, student, district, situation, etc. There was a story back in May in CT, about lots of K-level suspensions in one school district and that it was super suspicious.

From this article:

"A child may be suspended, he said, if he or she is causing a 'major disruption of the learning environment.' He said that would mean pushing or lifting or throwing furniture, or aggression, or screaming, or throwing a tantrum. Such behaviors compromise the learning environment, Michaelson said. 'We don't feel it's acceptable for one student to steal the learning time of 25 students.'"

Taken from this LINK.

I remember reading about a very young kid, like K or 1st grade, being suspended for inappropriate behavior towards a female classmate because he hugged her. She was his best friend and they had grown up together but the school had a zero tolerance policy towards sexual harassment. Crazy.

lizbeth dylan said:

I remember reading about a very young kid, like K or 1st grade, being suspended for inappropriate behavior towards a female classmate because he hugged her. She was his best friend and they had grown up together but the school had a zero tolerance policy towards sexual harassment. Crazy.

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There is this as well. My daughter can't "hug" her friends of the opposite gender. They've apparently drilled that into their heads because she knows the rules verbatim.

Parent initiated? I remember kids being suspended (24 hours) if they had an attendance problem.

kkbe said:

Nope.

I taught k. The most was 23 or 24. No aide.

In my mind, a loud and disruptive argument amongst 5 y/o kids wouldn't warrant a suspension. It would warrant teacher intervention right away. The opportunity for the kids to calm down. A talking to the kids involved privately to find out what happened, etc. A discussion with the entire class discussing -- in general terms -- the problem, and strategies for dealing with said problem should it arise in the future.

As a teacher, I'd know my kids so if this was uncharacteristic, I'd talk to the parents about it. Not as a punitive thing, but to inform and get more info.

-----------------

The least terrible behavior to warrant a suspension? I would guess if there's a policy in place, that would guide your answer but to me, there are dif. factors to consider so I'd take it on a case-by-case basis, depending on the student, parents, other issues. . .

-----------------

My experience, I'm not aware of a parent-initiated suspension. I guess if a parent thought there was a problem or wanted to punish their kid, they could keep the kid home for x no. of days. . .

--------------------------

Again, my experience, in Kindergarten the teacher was responsible for the safety of her students so this was addressed often, in terms of problem-solving strategies, cooling off time, letting kids blow off steam, recognizing they need to move, can't sit for long periods. I can't recall any kid physically assaulting another kid in my classroom. Saying hurtful stuff, maybe. But not attacking. Maybe I was really lucky and I know my experience doesn't mirror every teacher's experience, not by a long shot.

Not sure if this was helpful or not. . . *sigh*

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This. Completely.

I was a K teacher for 24-26 students (also with no aide). These kids are young and part of our regular dealings with such a young group (and even in some of the older grades) is helping the kids develop conflict resolution. It is very typical for kids this age to argue and say mean things to each other because 1. they don't always have self-control and 2. they are very egocentric (have a hard time seeing things from other's point of view). In a heated argument I will always intervene and see what's going on. If I felt it was a worthy discussion to have for the whole class then I would address it as so. Ex. "Boys and girls, today something very sad happened. A student (I would never say the name) got his feelings hurt because..." I would go on to explain briefly what happened and discuss why this behavior is inappropriate and/or not nice. I also had an apple chart in my room (red=good choices, yellow=not so good and 5 min time out for centers, Green=bad choice, 10 min time out, Blue apple=Yuck, very bad choice, 20min time out and note home to parents).

The only time I may have contacted a parent is if the child used physical aggression or language that was severe (cursing or using words that are completely inappropriate for a child of that age). Usually, they are mimicking older kids they hear (a lot of it comes from kids who have older siblings).

The one time I had a kid suspended in K was because he physically stabbed another kid in the arm with a pencil. Not that the pencil went in so deep, but it did draw blood. I had to immediately report him to the principal and the parent was called in. Granted, this child had some serious issues he was dealing with (he was living at the time in a shelter with his mother who had to leave her home because of an abusive relationship ). He eventually ended up transferring because the mother got other housing and he was no longer zoned for our school, but that is the only suspension I ever knew of in my school for Kindergarten.

You know what they didn't suspend anyone for in my Kindergarten? Wiping boogers on people. There was this one kid in particular who ALWAYS had his finger in his nose, then would use recess time to try to smear it on the rest of us. I can still see the sunlight glinting off his skinny, slimy pointer finger. Now we're FB friends, and he's married with two kids, seems pretty normal, but all I can think about his how often he had his finger up his nose.

Because of how the law is written, it is very hard to suspend a child with an IEP. They may however be sent to the school psychologist, social worker, or principal. Parents are often called in and usually end up taking the child home for the rest of the day.

If a parent were to just keep a child home, it would be considered an illegal absence. Most professionals would not feel this punished the child. It is also more liely for a victum to be kept home because that child is afraid of going back.

I had a kindergarten student who stood on tables and threw furniture. He was never suspended. He would have been thrilled. He didn't want to be there - in school, in that town, in the United States.